Percy West was 19 years old when he committed a botched pet shop robbery with three older men. Percy was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder in the first degree because he and NYPD officers who responded to the scene exchanged gunfire before Percy was apprehended. Luckily, no one was shot or physically injured. The Brooklyn DA’s Office offered Percy a plea bargain of 6-12 years but rescinded the offer when Percy failed to accept it immediately. Despite having no defense, Percy’s attorney advised him to go to trial. After a jury convicted Percy of almost every count in the indictment, the judge sentenced Percy to the maximum on each count to run consecutively, resulting in a sentence of 132 ½ years to life.

More than 29 years later, ECBAWM Partner Julia P. Kuan took on Percy’s case and learned about the volumes of mitigating evidence that was never presented to the trial judge who sentenced Percy to die in prison. After conducting an in depth investigation of Percy’s traumatic young life, including documenting the tragic death of his older brother, hiring a psychologist to provide a mitigation report, enlisting the help of law professor Steve Zeidman and the Second Look Project NY, obtaining affidavits from family, friends and prison officials to show Percy’s rehabilitation, Ms. Kuan submitted a CPL 440.10/440.20 motion to vacate Percy’s sentence on the grounds that his trial lawyer provided ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing. On September 20, 2024, New York State Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic, with the consent of the Brooklyn DA’s Office, vacated Percy’s sentence and resentenced him to concurrent terms aggregating to 25 years to life, making Percy immediately eligible for parole. After 32 ½ years of incarceration, Percy was finally released on January 21, 2025, and reunited with his loving family.

We are so proud of Ms. Kuan’s advocacy and look forward to seeing how Percy will use his second chance to give back to his community.